


a few steps to “i love you”

by locales



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fluff, Gen, Libraries, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24216412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locales/pseuds/locales
Summary: Somewhere between late night chats and Sushi runs, Vet Med student Scott McCall falls for the older librarian he works for.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Scott McCall
Kudos: 28





	a few steps to “i love you”

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: I just wanted to write something cute. Derek is genderqueer but they don't really mind people addressing them as "he or him".

Stiles drops a small booklet and racing bibs into Scott’s hands. The Beacon County Sheriff’s Department Charity Marathon tickets.  
  
“Aw, dude. No!”  
  
Stiles dropped into the seat next to Scott and started to rummage through his bag, “Come on, Scott. You love our Sheriff! I’ve got the mid-term from hell in a couple of days. Harris promised essay questions for 40% of the whole damn grade!”  
  
“Stiles, emotional blackmail stopped working on me sometime when we were 19. And I’ve already sold 50 tickets. Besides, why’s it gotta be the library?”  
  
“Why the lib- Why the Library, Scott!? You currently have the highest foot traffic in this school, especially during desperate times like Mid-Terms. These kids are _dying_ for ways to get good karma. What better than a charity run?”  
  
“That’s not how karma works, Stiles.”  
  
“They don’t know that,” Stiles set up his backpack as a makeshift place-mat for his Ethics textbook, propped open with a can of soda, uncapping three highlighters at once. “Seriously. You just flash those cute little dimples, give them the line about “Serve and Protect” and “Making the World a Better Place” and they’ll be falling all over themselves to sign up for the Run.”  
  
“I really don’t think that many people watch Silicon Valley, bro.”  
  
“You wound me, Scott!” Stiles starts to open a very familiar looking brown baggie.  
  
“I need to ask Der- Dude, that’s mine!”  
  
“Not anymore! You’ve snozzed and lost, my _hermano_! Besides, I didn’t know Hale was _capable_ of speech. Didn’t they give you carte blanche to run the place?”  
  
“ _Dr._ Hale trusts me, man. But they get final say in everything we do.”  
  
Stiles blanked for a second before continuing,“ _Everything_ , Dr. McCall? Even dragging hot librarians out back and making out with them?”  
  
“Yea- Bro!” Scott dropped the bibs and tickets, scandalized. “I’m not a doctor yet!”  
  
And then flushed _even_ deeper.  
  
*  
  
As a Fourth Year Veterinary Medicine student, all Scott had to worry about was performing well in his clinical rotations.  
  
With breaks in between shelving and checking books out, he caught up on notes and case studies, prepping for all the tests and quizzes they still had. He also told himself he enjoys the opportunities for learning administrative skills and social interaction.

Playing that up as well as his work with Dr. Deaton and a ton of recommendations had helped him land a pretty _insane_ job as an _“All-rounded Asset to our team at the Wolf Mountain Sanctuary. Welcome on board, Dr. McCall!_ ” And then, there was Derek.  
  
Possibly the only reason he still worked here was _Derek_.  
  
*  
  
He’d stumbled into this job the same way that Stiles and him got into many things. Accidentally.  
  
Walking into the Library clutching a Clinical Pathology textbook last year, wondering how much he’d have to pay in fines and if he could still make lunch and dinner, he’d come face to face with this mountain of a guy at the desk. Who’d grabbed his textbook and scanned it. When the screen flashed red, the guy had just whipped out a complicated-looking form for him to fill out. Scott took in the slicked-back hair, neat beard, crisp grey suit, eyes a riot of colors behind thick-rimmed glasses and a really woodsy cologne -  
  
Every single thing a preference he never knew he had.  
  
“Hale, don’t scare the poor boy. And you shouldn’t even be here. Did corporate send you to spy on us?,” a blonde boy piped up from somewhere in the back, not looking up from an Astronomy textbook, adjusting his fuchsia scarf even tighter around his neck. _When had models started working as librarians in college?_  
  
“Lahey, he’s a _late_ case. And I’m not here to _spy_ on you,” Hale had a pinched expression on his gorgeous face, like accusations of spying were just part of his workday itinerary.  
  
*  
  
“You’ve gotten it all wrong,” Derek walking around the bookshelves Scott had worked on all morning.  
  
Dr. Derek Hale had then proceeded to undo two hours of Scott’s hard work, rearranging all his shelving.

"I'll explain this again, Scott. Our students can't struggle to find a book during exam season," Derek sounded a bit tired, walking at a clip so fast Scott was having trouble keeping up. Scott had to switch to lecture-mode, scribbling down everything furiously.  
  
“They only come here when they’re bored of taking crap from the bureaucrats at the main administration building,” Erica tousled Scott’s hair and gave him a paper cup of coffee when he’d eventually made his way back to the main desk. _They? Were there more main administrative people here?_

She set down a stack of books he’d needed to wrap with sticky plastic wrappers and left to fix a computer a kid had managed to BSOD in a spectacular way. The uncomfortable lurch in his stomach only worsened when a few people came up to the desk, wanting to borrow some books.  
  
“You want to open up a new ticket in the system and scan the student’s card. Then you scan the books and print their receipt. Like so,” Isaac had sidled up to a hopelessly flustered Scott. Scott grinned, grateful for the assist.  
  
The only thing that _had_ gone right was the fact that so many people had stopped by and borrowed books when he was at the counter. He’d tried his best to be cheerful though it was killing him.

When they were finally done for the day and cleaned up, Scott was just glad he'd gotten through the day without anymore incidents involving Dr. Hale.  
  
“Derek never spends time teaching anyone, you know,” a deep voice piped up behind Scott. Boyd headed Circulation Services and popped by to check in on them though he mostly stayed on the fifth floor, where he could have a better view.  
  
“Der-bear's a softie like that,” Erica plunked down next to Scott and started to look through the loan records for the day.  
  
“Whoa. You did this?”  
  
“Man, what did I do _now_?” Scott let his head slump down in his arms. Long day indeed.  
  
“You’ve gotten us a 50% increase in item loan rate from yesterday,” Erica grinned.  
  
“Derek’s gonna flip,” Boyd whistled as he came over to look at the screen.

"Are you sure you want to work with animals, McCall? Your face could ship a thousand books a month," Isaac placed a unusually chilly hand on Scott's forearm.  
  
Scott’s mood improved considerably after that. He actually written and handed out plenty of cards with titles and ISBNs too. And had received quite a few cards back, with a few guys and girls scrawling their names and numbers at the back.  
  
When he’d received a cheerful email from Erica later that night asking if he wanted a part-time Library Assistant position, he'd agreed little too fast.

He _really_ wanted to see Derek again.

  


**Author's Note:**

> I was going through my deleted fics and wanted to reupload them! I wrote this on February 20, 2016 as places and holy moly, am I fond italics 😂!


End file.
